This study examined psychological processes of consumers that had determined hoarding and avoidant purchasing behaviors after the Tohoku earthquake within a dual-process model. The model hypothesized that both intentional motivation based on reflective decision and reactive motivation based on non-reflective decision predicted the behaviors. This study assumed that attitude, subjective norm and descriptive norm in relation to hoarding and avoidant purchasing were determinants of motivations. Residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area (n=667) completed internet longitudinal surveys at three times (April, June, and November, 2011). The results indicated that intentional and reactive motivation determined avoidant purchasing behaviors in June; only intentional motivation determined the behaviors in November. Attitude was a main determinant of the motivations each time. Moreover, previous behaviors predicted future behaviors. In conclusion, purchasing behaviors were intentional rather than reactive behaviors. Furthermore, attitude and previous behaviors were important determinants in the dual-process model. Attitude and behaviors formed in April continued to strengthen the subsequent decisions of purchasing behavior.

We developed the Coparental Regulation Inventory to assess the regulatory behavior of the mothers in involving fathers with child rearing. We translated and modified the short form of the Parental Regulation Inventory (PRI) for Japanese couples in different stages of child rearing. An online questionnaire was conducted with mothers (n = 500) and fathers (n = 500) whose youngest child was less than 21-years-old. Exploratory factor analysis identified two factors, which were labeled “encouragement” and “criticism”. The resulting Coparental Regulation Inventory (the modified PRI) had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The construct validity of the scale was supported by its correlation with parenting alliance, marital satisfaction, and the father’s involvement. These findings suggest that the scale is an adequate instrument for identifying the behaviors of mothers related to coparenting. In addition, we examined the frequency of encouragement and criticism used by the mother in relation to the child-rearing stage using cross-sectional analysis. In the mothers’ reports, mothers with infants and children encouraged fathers more than mothers with early and late adolescents. Mothers with late adolescents criticized fathers less than mothers with infants. In the fathers’ reports, mothers gave more encouragement to fathers who had infants than at any other age, whereas the child’s age was not related to mothers’ criticism perceived by the fathers.

The effect of self-evaluation of emotions on subjective adaption to school was investigated among junior high school students (n = 217: 112 boys, 105 girls) who participated in a questionnaire survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that for boys “Infringement and maladjustment” differed based on their self-evaluation of anger and anxiety. For girls, on the other hand, the self-evaluation of anger alleviated psychological stress, worsened the “Relationship with the teacher” and the “Relationship with the class”, whereas self-evaluation of anxiety played a role in increasing psychological stress and deteriorating the “Relationship with the class.” Furthermore, negatively evaluating either anger or anxiety heightened the “Motivation for learning” in girls. These results suggest that the evaluation of emotions is different in boys and girls and for different emotions.

This study examined the development of skills to report with different levels of exactness. A total of 62 first-grade children and 58 fourth-grade children were asked about numbers and lengths (numeral tasks) and colors and positions of objects (nominal tasks) with instructions suggesting different levels of exactness, “roughly” or “exactly”. In Study 1, the instructions were given as a between-subjects factor. The results showed that when the “roughly” instruction was given, participants gave approximate answers more frequently than when the “exactly” instruction was given especially in the numeral tasks, and older children did so more frequently than younger children. In Study 2, the instructions were given as a within-subjects factor: a half of participants were given “roughly” and then “exactly” instructions, and the others were given the instructions in the opposite order. The results showed that younger children could change the levels of answers depending on instruction in the numeral tasks but not in the nominal tasks, whereas older children could do so in both tasks. The results suggest that the skills for reporting with different levels of exactness are related not only to cognitive development, but also to the linguistic context, such as the tasks and instructions.

This study reports the development of The Scale of Social Interest for Elementary School Children and examines its reliability and validity. Elementary school students of fourth, fifth, and sixth grades responded to provisional items of the scale, as well as scales assessing mental health, adaptation to school, and sympathy. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using the provisional items. The following three factors, which had also been identified by Kosaka (2011), were extracted: feelings of contribution, feelings of belonging to society and trust in society, and self-acceptance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated sufficient fitness. The reliability of the scale was confirmed based on internal consistency and stability. The predicted relationships among the scale and mental health, school adaptation, and sympathy were demonstrated. Based on these results, the reliability and validity of the Scale of Social Interest for Elementary School Children were confirmed.

Previous studies showed that incidental feelings of disgust could make moral judgments more severe. In the present study, we investigated whether individual differences in mindfulness modulated automatic transference of disgust into moral judgment. Undergraduates were divided into high- and low-mindfulness groups based on the mean score on each subscale of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Participants were asked to write about a disgusting experience or an emotionally neutral experience, and then to evaluate moral (impersonal vs. high-conflict personal) and non-moral scenarios. The results showed that the disgust induction made moral judgments more severe for the low “acting with awareness” participants, whereas it did not influence the moral judgments of the high “acting with awareness” participants irrespective of type of moral dilemma. The other facets of the FFMQ did not modulate the effect of disgust on moral judgment. These findings suggest that being present prevents automatic transference of disgust into moral judgment even when prepotent emotions elicited by the thought of killing one person to save several others and utilitarian reasoning conflict.

This study examined gender differences for two measures of mental health as related to the quality of the marital relationship. Middle-aged respondents (221 female; 210 male) rated their marital satisfaction, affection, and communication. They also rated their psychological well-being and depression. The correlations between marital quality and mental health indicated that for males marital quality was more strongly associated with psychological well-being than with depression. Females showed no such difference, or their marital quality was associated with depression. This implies that for females, depression was a more sensitive measure of their mental health related to their husband-wife relationship. On the other hand, for males subjective well-being which was correlated with self-esteem was a more sensitive measure of their mental health.

We investigated the effect of a post-training chronic infusion of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker on retention of spatial reference memory in rats. In Experiment 1, we trained 4 groups of rats for 4 days (4 trials/day) in the Morris water maze task. In a single probe trial after retention intervals of 1, 7, 14, and 28 days, the 1-day group showed more goal crossings than shown by the other 3 groups. In Experiment 2, a chronic infusion of the NMDA receptor antagonist d-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (d-AP5) or a control vehicle into the lateral ventricle was initiated 1 day after the training session, and continued for 6 days. In the subsequent probe trial (7 days after training), the rats that had received the d-AP5 infusion showed significantly more goal crossings than the controls. These findings suggest that an NMDA receptor blockade following acquisition facilitates retention of spatial reference memory.

This study investigated the effects of positive and negative reinforcement on superstitious behaviors. Participants were instructed to produce the word “GOOD” on a computer display (positive reinforcement condition) or to remove the word “BAD” (negative reinforcement condition) by pressing any of six keys. The words GOOD or BAD were presented at fixed-time intervals regardless of the participant’s responses. In Experiment 1, only participants exposed to the negative reinforcement condition acquired superstitious behaviors. However, the observed asymmetry may not have been due to the polarity of consequences (positive vs. negative) but instead to the amount of time of goal states, because the period of the absence of BAD was longer than the period of the presence of GOOD. Experiment 2 varied the duration of word presentations to match the period of goal state between the positive and negative reinforcement conditions, and found that participants acquired superstitious behaviors equally under the two conditions. These results indicate that the duration of a consequence rather than its polarity is a critical factor controlling superstitious behaviors. The theoretical relationship between superstitious behavior and the illusion of control is discussed.

This study examined the effects of the reactions of younger adukts toward older adults on the psychological attributese and behavior of elderly. Participants were 34 older male adults aged 60-82 years. They completed a questionnaire on generativity before and after the experimental condition, and were also observed taking flyers on different topics after the experiment. They were assigned to the younger condition or the same generation condition. In both conditions, the participants were asked to talk to recipients about experiences from their youth and the wisdom they have gained. The recipients responded to the participants in either a positive or a neutral way. The results showed that generativity was promoted most when the younger recipients responded in a positive manner, whereas the neutral reactions of younger recipients led to the inhibition of generativity. Younger persons’ positive reactions promoted the participants’ helping behaviors, as indicated by the flyers they took. The present study shows increases in the generativity of the elderly following positive reactions from younger recipients not only on questionnaires but also in an experimental setting.